Speech Lays Out Next Goals

President's Address Will Outline Priorities in Education and Climate Change

By

Colleen McCain Nelson

Updated Feb. 8, 2013 7:35 p.m. ET

President Barack Obama is expected to detail an ambitious domestic agenda in his State of the Union address Tuesday, including measures on immigration, gun control, climate change and education.

WSJ reporters Neil King, Colleen McCain Nelson and Laura Meckler swap reporting leads and predictions on the big themes of Barack Obama's State of the Union address, including the budget showdown, climate change and fixing the immigration system.

The speech will open a limited window for Mr. Obama to accomplish his objectives before the politics of the 2014 and 2016 contests overtake his term. Complicating matters, the address comes as the threat of spending cuts known as the sequester dominate the discussion in Washington. Usually, a president delivers the speech in tandem with releasing his budget proposal, giving detail to his policies. This year, Mr. Obama isn't expected to send Congress his budget until mid-March.

The president has made clear immigration, gun control and climate change are top priorities. One former administration official said Mr. Obama in his speech would discuss reducing greenhouse gases in an effort to address climate change.

Obama administration officials also have signaled plans to focus on the "bookends" of education—early childhood and college—during the second term. Education leaders say they expect Tuesday's address to underscore those priorities.

This week, the Center for American Progress think tank, a White House ally, laid out a plan to improve access to preschool education and child care. The group's officials shared the proposal with the administration, and Neera Tanden, the center's president, said she is hopeful the president would lay out similar goals in his speech.

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The administration focused over the past four years on education policies for kindergarten through 12th grade, such as its signature Race to the Top competition, which prodded states to pass laws linking teacher evaluations to student test scores and expanded the number of charter schools. In his 2012 State of the Union, Mr. Obama spoke of stemming skyrocketing tuition expenses.

Terry Hartle, senior vice president of the American Council on Education, said he expects the president Tuesday to build on his earlier promises to make college more affordable. While he isn't anticipating a big new policy proposal, Mr. Hartle said the speech could make clear that reining in higher-education costs remains a priority while filling in some of the details of objectives already outlined.

Military officers and defense experts will be listening to the address for hints about Mr. Obama's decision on the long-term U.S. presence in Afghanistan when the mission concludes at the end of 2014. While military officials once envisioned a long-term force of 15,000 or more troops in Afghanistan, the White House requested the Pentagon provide options ranging from 3,000 to 9,000.

Analysts don't expect Mr. Obama to decide to remove all U.S. forces. But with only a few thousand troops in place after 2014, the mission would be limited to counterterrorism operations and high-level training of Afghan security forces.

Mr. Obama told House Democrats Thursday that his speech would highlight the importance of job creation, adding, "it means that we're focused on education and that every young person is equipped with the skills they need to compete in the 21st century."

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